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Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests
Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests
RESOLVE 335
The Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests cover the maritime lowlands around the Gulf — Prince Edward Island, the Acadian and northern New Brunswick coast, Nova Scotia's low-elevation interior, the Magdalen Islands, the southern coast of the Gaspé, and adjacent Quebec lowlands. Mixed Acadian forest of balsam fir, red spruce, yellow birch, sugar maple, and white pine; maritime moderation softens the continental temperature extremes felt one ecoregion inland.
Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests location on world map
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 46.4°N, 65.4°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
NRCan zone range (now)
0a-5b
NRCan
What seed packets and nursery tags reference. Coldest-day survival semantics.
Plotwright projection (2041–2070)
8a-9a
Plotwright
Where CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +8.8°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
Maritime moderation is weakening — projected mid-century warming here exceeds 4 °C under SSP3-7.0, with sea-surface temperatures in the southern Gulf rising faster than the global mean.
Red spruce + balsam fir + paper birch (the cold-end Acadian conifer signature) are contracting at the southern edge of their range; oak + maple associations are advancing.
Garden-relevant: heritage Maritime varieties (apple, pear, cold-hardy Asiatic plum) gain hardiness margin, but the binding constraints shift toward late-spring frost variability + summer drought rather than winter cold.
At a glance
States / provinces
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec
Dominant biome
Temperate Broadleaf & Mixed Forests
Realm
Nearctic
Approximate area
13,961 sq mi
Elevation range
0 – 1,500 ft
Climate type
Humid continental, maritime-moderated (Köppen Dfb)
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the temperate broadleaf & mixed forests biome
Four-season forests of deciduous hardwoods — oak, maple, beech — often mixed with conifers, shaped by warm summers and cold winters. Trees leaf out in spring and color in autumn; the generally fertile soils have made these forests heavily settled and farmed.
What's native here
Catalog plants whose Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center native-distribution range overlaps the 4-state/province roster for this ecoregion. Distinct from the “suited” section below — these are plants that belong here, not just plants that will grow here.
Grain caveat: native here means “native to at least one state / province this ecoregion crosses,” not necessarily native to this ecoregion's specific habitat. A plant tied to wet meadows that crosses Ontario will surface for any Ontario-spanning ecoregion. Finer per-ecoregion native-status data is a future arc.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's NRCan Plant Hardiness Zone 1981-2010 GeoTIFF published current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 249
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
Adam's needle
Allegheny blackberry
American basswood
American elderberry
American hazelnut
American holly
American hophornbeam
American persimmon
American plum
American red raspberry
American sweetgum
American sycamore
Anise hyssop
Annabelle hydrangea
Apple
Apricot
Aromatic aster
Arrowwood viburnum
Arugula
Asian persimmon
Asiatic lily
Asparagus
Autumn-joy stonecrop
Bald cypress
Bay laurel
Bearded iris
Big bluestem
Bigleaf hydrangea
Black cherry
Black chokeberry
Black tupelo (black gum)
Black walnut
Black willow
Black-eyed Susan
Blackhaw viburnum
Bleeding heart
Bloodroot
Blue elderberry
Blue false indigo
Blue flag iris
Blue grama
Blue vervain
Blueblossom
Bok choy
Boneset
Borage
Border forsythia
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Bur oak
Butterfly weed
Cabbage
Calendula (pot marigold)
California fuchsia
California poppy
Camellia
Canada goldenrod
Canadian serviceberry
Cantaloupe
Cardinal flower
Carolina allspice (sweetshrub)
Catawba rhododendron
Catmint
Cauliflower
Chives
Christmas fern
Cilantro
Clematis
Coast live oak
Collard greens
Comfrey
Common boxwood
Common camas
Common fig
Common hackberry
Common hops
Common hyacinth
Common manzanita
Common milkweed
Common ninebark
Common olive
Common thyme
Common witch hazel
Common yarrow
Common zinnia
Coral bells
Cosmos
Crape myrtle
Cutleaf coneflower
Daffodil
Dahlia
Daylily
Dense blazing star
Dill
Dutch crocus
Dwarf crested iris
Eastern cottonwood
Eastern prickly pear
Eastern red cedar
Eastern redbud
Eastern white pine
English lavender
European pear
European plum
Fennel
Flowering dogwood
Foamflower
Fox grape
Foxglove beardtongue
Fragrant plantain lily
Fremont cottonwood
French marigold
French tarragon
Garden mum
Garden phlox
Garden rose
Garden sage
Garden salvia
Garden strawberry
Gardenia
Garlic
German chamomile
Ginkgo
Gladiolus
Globe artichoke
Golden alexanders
Golden currant
Green hawthorn
Ground cherry
Groundnut
Hairy alumroot
Hardy hibiscus
Highbush blueberry
Hollyhock
Honey locust
Indian grass
Indian pink
Japanese maple
Japanese spirea
Jujube
Kiwifruit
Lacinato kale
Lady fern
Lamb's ear
Leek
Little bluestem
Lovage
Marginal wood fern
Mayapple
Maypop (purple passionflower)
Morning glory
Mountain laurel
Nasturtium
New England aster
New Jersey tea
New York ironweed
Northern maidenhair fern
Northern red oak
Northern spicebush
Oakleaf hydrangea
Okra
Oregano
Oregon grape
Oregon white oak
Pacific dogwood
Pansy
Parry's agave
Parsnip
Pawpaw
Peach
Pecan
Peony
Peppermint
Pinxter azalea
Pomegranate
Potato
Prairie dropseed
Pumpkin
Purple coneflower
Pussy willow
Quince
Radish
Red maple
Red mulberry
Rhubarb
River birch
River oats
Rose of Sharon
Rosemary
Russian sage
Salad burnet
Salal
Sassafras
Scarlet bee balm
Sea buckthorn
Shagbark hickory
Shasta daisy
Short-toothed mountain mint
Side-oats grama
Smooth blue aster
Snapdragon
Soapweed yucca
Southern live oak
Southern magnolia
Spearmint
Spinach
Spotted Joe-Pye weed
Stiff goldenrod
Sugar maple
Summer savory
Summersweet (sweet pepperbush)
Sunchoke
Swamp milkweed
Swamp sunflower
Sweet alyssum
Sweet cherry
Sweet corn
Sweet crabapple
Sweet Joe-Pye weed
Sweet pea
Sweet William
Sweetbay magnolia
Switchgrass
Tall verbena
Threadleaf coreopsis
Toyon
Tulip
Tulip tree (yellow poplar)
Turmeric
Turnip
Virginia bluebells
Virginia sweetspire
Watermelon
Weeping willow
Western redbud
Western sword fern
White clover
White oak
White wood aster
Wild bergamot
Wild columbine
Wild geranium
Wild lupine
Wild senna
Wild strawberry
Wine grape
Winterberry
Woodland phlox
Yoshino cherry
Currently suited · 16
These plants fit the ecoregion as it is today, but the mid-century projection moves them outside their stated zone range — plan for them to struggle by 2070.
Newly possible by 2070 · 8
These plants don't fit the current zone range yet, but the mid-century projection brings them into reach. Long-horizon picks for the climate-adaptation wedge.
Wildlife your native plants here support
What this surface IS — and isn't
Inferred from the relationships catalog plants native to this region have with wildlife. We don't carry direct wildlife-range data per ecoregion — this lists what your native plant palette here can support, not a verified checklist of what occurs here. Cross-check the range note on each wildlife's detail page before treating a row as a presence claim.
Only plants with structured native-distribution data contribute here. Old World cultivars and most vegetables are excluded by design — this view shows “what your native palette supports,” not “what your whole garden does.” It will grow as more plants gain native-range data.
Larval hosts · 25
Plants that caterpillars and other larvae feed on while growing.
Butterfly
Eastern tiger swallowtail
Papilio glaucus
17 native plants here: American plum, Black cherry, Black willow + 14 more
Moth
Polyphemus moth
Antheraea polyphemus
16 native plants here: American basswood, American hophornbeam, Black cherry + 13 more
Moth
Io moth
Automeris io
9 native plants here: Allegheny blackberry, American red raspberry, Black willow + 6 more
Moth
Hummingbird clearwing moth
Hemaris thysbe
8 native plants here: American plum, Arrowwood viburnum, Beach plum + 5 more
Butterfly · Specialist support
Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus
8 native plants here: Butterfly weed, Common milkweed, Swamp milkweed + 5 more
Butterfly · Specialist support
Skipper butterflies
Hesperiidae (family-level entry)
8 native plants here: Big bluestem, Little bluestem, Prairie dropseed + 5 more
Moth
Cecropia moth
Hyalophora cecropia
7 native plants here: Black cherry, Black willow, Chokecherry + 4 more
Moth
Imperial moth
Eacles imperialis
7 native plants here: Bur oak, Eastern white pine, Northern red oak + 4 more
Butterfly
Mourning cloak
Nymphalis antiopa
6 native plants here: Black willow, Common hackberry, Eastern cottonwood + 3 more
Butterfly
Red-spotted purple
Limenitis arthemis astyanax
5 native plants here: Black cherry, Black willow, Chokecherry + 2 more
Butterfly
Common buckeye
Junonia coenia
4 native plants here: Blue vervain, Foxglove beardtongue, New England aster + 1 more
Moth
Hawkmoths
Sphingidae (family-level entry)
4 native plants here: Black cherry, Chokecherry, Common witch hazel + 1 more
Butterfly
Spring azure
Celastrina ladon
4 native plants here: American plum, Arrowwood viburnum, Black cherry + 1 more
Butterfly
Viceroy
Limenitis archippus
4 native plants here: Black willow, Eastern cottonwood, Pussy willow + 1 more
Butterfly · Specialist support
Great spangled fritillary
Speyeria cybele
3 native plants here: Common blue violet, Blue vervain, Boneset
Moth · Specialist support
Milkweed tussock moth
Euchaetes egle
3 native plants here: Butterfly weed, Common milkweed, Swamp milkweed
Butterfly
Pearl crescent
Phyciodes tharos
3 native plants here: New England aster, Smooth blue aster, White wood aster
Butterfly
Cloudless sulphur
Phoebis sennae
2 native plants here: Groundnut, Wild lupine
Butterfly
Eastern comma
Polygonia comma
2 native plants here: Common hackberry, Common hops
Moth
Luna moth
Actias luna
2 native plants here: Paper birch, Shagbark hickory
Butterfly
Black swallowtail
Papilio polyxenes
1 native plant here: Golden alexanders
Butterfly
Eastern tailed-blue
Cupido comyntas
1 native plant here: Wild lupine
Butterfly · Specialist support
Karner blue
Plebejus melissa samuelis
1 native plant here: Wild lupine
Butterfly
Silvery checkerspot
Chlosyne nycteis
1 native plant here: Cutleaf coneflower
Butterfly · Specialist support
Spicebush swallowtail
Papilio troilus
1 native plant here: Northern spicebush
Collections for this ecoregion
Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.
Climate-resilient · 2 plants
Bright shade foundation
A part-shade starting point with shrub structure and low foliage contrast.
Annabelle hydrangea
Coral bells
+4
Climate-resilient · 8 plants
Climate-resilient natives for warming zones (eastern NA)
A pollinator-supporting palette of eastern NA natives whose USDA zone range and broad continental distribution score high on the climate-resilience composite. Every plant tolerates 6-7 USDA zones and is native across 15+ US states + multiple Canadian provinces. Holds up under the SSP3-7.0 mid-century projection without the gardener trading wildlife value for resilience.
Switchgrass
Little bluestem
Common milkweed
Black-eyed Susan
Wild bergamot
Sweet Joe-Pye weed
Cutleaf coneflower
New England aster
+2
Climate-resilient · 6 plants
Mediterranean drought-tolerant edible
A low-water edible palette of culinary herbs + a hardy grape for hot dry sunny sites. Mediterranean-origin plants thrive on neglect; their primary failure mode is overwatering, not underwatering.
English lavender
Rosemary
Garden sage
Oregano
Common thyme
Fox grape
+5
Climate-resilient · 9 plants
Native pollinator border (eastern US)
A continuous-bloom native pollinator strip for eastern North America. Covers spring through frost with host + nectar plants spanning monarchs, native bees, hummingbirds, and specialist Lepidoptera. Little bluestem provides the matrix grass + Hesperiidae host.
Butterfly weed
Common milkweed
Purple coneflower
Wild bergamot
Scarlet bee balm
Little bluestem
Sweet Joe-Pye weed
Swamp sunflower
Smooth blue aster
Climate-resilient · 4 plants
Sunny pollinator border
A durable sunny border with summer bloom, seedheads, and upright winter texture.
English lavender
Purple coneflower
Black-eyed Susan
Switchgrass
Plotwright
Climate-aware plant planning — every plant checked against your zone now and in 2050.
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